“Thank you, Gregory,” Larena said. She made a move to leave the room, but stopped and returned to where Darach stood in front of the desk. She held out her hand. “Good-bye and good luck to you, sir.”
With a mix of desire and fury, he took hold of her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it. “Good luck to you, too, Miss Campbell.”
She quickly turned and walked out.
Two seconds later, a soldier grabbed Darach roughly by the arm and shoved him out the door in the opposite direction.
* * *
As soon as the heavy cell door swung open, Larena dashed into her father’s arms and buried her face in his bushy red beard. He immediately picked her up, swung her around, and squeezed her tightly as she wept tears of joy.
“Oh, Father.” She stepped back to look up at him, barely noticing when the door swung shut behind her. “I’m so happy to see you. I was afraid I wouldn’t make it home in time.”
But, dear Lord, he looked so thin. It had been only just over a week. Were they starving him?
“To save me from the executioner?” he asked. “Bah! You shouldn’t be concerning yourself with such things, my sweet lassie. You know me. I never go down without a fight.”
She laughed tearfully at his words, for it was a phrase he’d often thrown about during her childhood. Whenever they played any sort of game and he let her win, that is exactly what he would say to her.
“I was worried about you, lass,” he said in his deep, boisterous timbre. “They told me you disappeared after I was taken away. No one knew where you went. I imagined the worst.”
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you, but I was afraid they would lock me up if they found me, just for being your daughter. I rode out as soon as they announced your sentence.”
“They tell me you made a deal with Lord Rutherford at Fort William,” he replied. “That you agreed to marry Colonel Chatham to save my life. I didn’t believe it at first, but they assure me it’s true. Is it?”
“Aye,” she replied. “It was the only way I could save you—the only way I knew how. There was so little time. All I could do was say yes when Rutherford suggested it. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Her father laid a hand on her cheek. “But my darling girl, it’s a price you will pay for the rest of your life. Are you sure it’s what you want? Because I would not hold you to it if Chatham is not the sort of man who could make you happy. I would give my own life and hand this castle over to the English before I would see you miserable forever.”
“But what about the clan?” she asked. “You’re their chief.”
“Ach, they’d find another chief to replace me in a heartbeat. The Campbells aren’t a dying breed.”
Larena’s heart sank at the possibility that there might have been other options—for a marriage to Gregory Chatham had suddenly become a far higher price to pay than she’d initially imagined.
But still, if it meant that her father could live….
“I gave him my word,” she said, “and because of that, you will not be taken away from me. I cannot change my mind now. I won’t, not if it means I will lose you.”
He regarded her with sympathy. “I’m not afraid of death, lass.”
“Perhaps you’re not,” she argued, “but I am terrified of losing you. I couldn’t possibly live without you.”
He pulled her into his arms again. “One day, you will have to, lass. It’s the way of the world. All children must eventually let go of their parents and live their own lives.”
She buried her face in his chest and squeezed her eyes shut. “Not yet. I’m not ready.”
He held her a moment longer, then stepped back. “Wipe away your tears now. You must be strong for yourself and for the good of the clan. If you do not wish to marry the colonel, you must tell him so. I won’t be angry if you break your vow to him and destroy the King’s pardon, for I knew what I was risking when I took up the sword for the Jacobite cause. You should not have to pay for my choices.”
“But why, Father?” she asked at last. It was a question that had been burning in her mind ever since the English army broke through the gates. “Our clan has always sided with the Hanovers. What changed your mind? What made you turn your allegiance toward the Stuarts?”
“Nothing changed my mind, lass. I’ve always believed in the true Scottish king. I just never revealed my opinions to anyone. But when I became chief and had the power to change people’s minds, I did what I could.”
“So you truly are guilty then,” she said. “Guilty of being a Jacobite?”
“Aye, and I have confessed it.”
She turned away and strode to the opposite wall. “Then I must marry Chatham. If it means they will spare your life.” She faced him again. “It won’t be so bad. I met him tonight and he is handsome, at least. And I remember him from my childhood. He taught me to read and gave me books—books that I still own. You mustn’t fret, Father. He is half Campbell by blood and I have every reason to believe the marriage will be a success and the saving grace for our clan.”
“Only if you’re certain, lass.”
“Of course I am certain.” She stepped forward to wrap her arms around his waist. Larena squeezed her eyes shut, for it was the first time she’d ever lied to her father.
She tried to focus on the fact that Darach would be gone that night and she would never see him again. She would do what she must to push him from her mind completely and accept her future as it was.
But when the guard escorted her out of the cell and locked her father in…. When it was time to return up the tower stairs to meet Chatham for dinner….
Oh God, Larena felt as if a hand were closing around her throat. Her heart began to race uncontrollably and she felt sick to her stomach.
Darach would leave tonight. He had told her so. She had said good-bye to him in the tower and he had kissed her hand and wished her luck.
But she had not said good-bye to him the way she’d wanted to, one last time. Could she live with that? Or would it haunt her forever?
When they reached the top of the stairs, Larena stopped and faced the soldier. “Please tell Colonel Chatham that I will dine with him shortly.”
“Where are you off to, Miss Campbell?” he asked with a slight frown.
“I must return to my chamber. I need to….” She paused. “I must take care of a personal matter.”
“I will escort you,” he helpfully replied, starting off toward the door to the southern tower where her rooms were located.
Rather than argue, she allowed him to walk with her, while gazing surreptitiously toward the stables where Darach must surely be, preparing to leave the castle.
Do not be foolish, Larena. You must be strong and let him go. Your father’s life depends on it.
But as she entered the South Tower and became lost in the memory of Darach’s hands on her body, his lips touching hers, and the intoxicating sounds of his voice in her ear, she was overcome by a mad desire that threatened to destroy any shred of discipline that remained in her heart.
It wasn’t over. It couldn’t be. She wasn’t ready.
Chapter Twenty-one
Larena spoke firmly to the soldier as she entered her room and paused at the door. “There is no need for you to wait for me. I might be a while. I’ve decided I want to change my gown and probably my hair as well.” She looked down at herself. “This is all wrong. I don’t feel right in this rag. I may want to change my jewels, too,” she added for good measure.
“But miss…” he said with dismay, “I think you look lovely just as you are. Prettier than a picture.”
“Thank you.” She pasted on a smile. “But truly…you mustn’t let me hold you up. Go and join your friends in the feasting hall. I assure you I can find my way to the colonel’s chambers at nine without any trouble at all. I know my way around this castle better than you do. Every nook and cranny.”
“I’d prefer to wait here,” he said uneasily. “This castle is a gar
rison now, miss, and you don’t know what soldiers can be like after a few cups of rum in their bellies. And I have my orders from the colonel. No need to hurry. I’ve got nothing better to do this evening than make sure you’re delivered safely to dinner and back to your chambers again afterward.”
Larena sighed irritably, for this was taking far too long.
“Fine.” Without another word, she shut the door, locked it and rushed to the window to look out onto the bailey below, hoping to catch a glimpse of Darach on his way to or from the stables. If she saw him, she would simply tell Lieutenant Roberts the truth—that she needed to say good-bye to Darach one last time.
For a long, anxiety-ridden moment, she watched the activity outside her window. It was fairly quiet. There were only a few soldiers milling about in the darkness, chatting idly with each other, sitting about in small groups sipping ale in the torchlight. She cupped her hands to the glass, hoping to see inside the stable, but it was no use. The stable doors were closed.
“What are you searching for, lass?” a deep voice whispered in her ear. She whirled about in surprise.
“Darach!”
There he was, like a mysterious archangel warrior in the candlelight, standing before her, his hands sliding onto the curve of her hips, his mouth brushing over hers in a soft featherlike caress. Was she dreaming? She was afraid to believe this was real. Then her body thrilled at his touch and she knew in that moment that he was truly standing before her, embracing her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, keeping her voice low, leaning to peer around him and ensure the door was closed.
It was closed, but was it locked?
Yes…yes it was.
“I couldn’t leave without keeping my promise to you,” he whispered in reply. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”
“What promise?”
“Surely you know….”
“One last kiss?”
“Aye.”
With that, he bent his head and pressed his mouth to hers in a soul-reaching kiss that aroused her fiery passions. It caused her to overlook the fact that everything in her life was imperfect compared to this single scorching kiss. She felt as if she were floating in another time and place where everything was as she wished it to be. That her father was safe and warm in his bed, and Darach was the only man who could ever claim her as his own. How she wished it were so.
He bent at the knees and thrust his massive body up against hers, stepping forward to drag her sideways and crowd her up against the wall beside the window, out of sight of any onlookers from the bailey below.
Her whole body melted as his tongue swept into her mouth and he nipped at her lower lip, sucked at the sensitive flesh and ate at her mouth like a starving man.
She opened to him willingly, wanting him with every measure of her being, clutching at his broad, muscular shoulders, and tugging at the tartan draped across his back.
His hand cupped the side of her head and his thumb toyed with the delicate flesh at her ear. Tingles of pleasure coursed down the length of her body as she devoured him at the mouth, but it was not enough. Not nearly enough. She wanted so much more.
Pressing his forehead against hers and breaking the kiss, he laced his fingers through hers at their sides. “I don’t want to leave you,” he said. “I cannot bear the thought of another man’s hands on you when you belong to me, lass. I must have you.”
“I cannot bear it either,” she replied, kissing him again, lifting her hands up to run her fingers through his wavy, dark hair. She gazed into his eyes with pleading. “I can’t stop thinking about you and wanting you. It’s like some kind of fever that won’t break. Seeing you in the tower room was torture. I thought I would die when I had to pretend as if you were nothing to me, because you are everything.”
“Ah, lassie….” His hips ground against hers and he laid hungry, wet kisses across her cheek, down the sensitive length of her neck, and the top of her shoulder. He sucked fiercely at her flesh and drove her mad with hot waves of yearning.
Closing her eyes, she threw her head back as he dropped to his knees before her and slid his hands up under her skirts.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known,” he said. “I want to touch you and kiss you everywhere.”
Heaven help her. Her body was on fire with lust and a complete inability to resist what he offered. His hands were surely enchanted, for she was falling into a deep whirlwind of surrender.
He pressed firm kisses to her breasts and belly, over the surface of her silk and brocade gown, down low, and across her hip bone. All the while, his hands slid expertly up her legs, thumbing her knees and stroking her tender, trembling inner thighs.
Larena couldn’t think. All she could do was focus on sensation as he lifted her heavy skirts higher and higher, then whispered huskily, “So beautiful….”
Then he pressed his mouth to the sensitive flesh at her core, where all her desires were centered and burning for his touch.
She felt a tremor of response in every part of her body, inside and out, as the lush heat of his mouth invaded her being and drove her into a wild frenzy of need.
“What are you doing to me?” she asked, fisting bunches of the draperies in her hands to keep from collapsing in a faint—for she wanted to enjoy every minute of this unbelievable ecstasy.
“I promised you one last kiss,” he replied in a gruff, ravenous voice. The heat of his breath against her damp curls sent a fresh shiver of lust to her brain and weakened her knees.
“I didn’t know kisses like this were possible,” she whispered on a sigh of pleasure and disbelief.
He continued to make love to her with his mouth, stroking and probing with his tongue until a sizzle of rapture exploded below and she fought against the urge to cry out. Her stomach muscles clenched and the whole world shook as she fought to control her body’s wild carnal response, but it was no use to fight it. She shuddered violently up against the wall.
When the agonizing wave of ecstasy subsided, Darach rose to his full height before her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply on the mouth, spinning her around toward the bed. He walked her there, then eased her down upon it while cupping the back of her head with his big hand, laying her gently onto the pillows. He never took his eyes off hers as he set his weapons aside and climbed over her on all fours.
“I won’t leave you,” he said. “I don’t know what you did to me on the road, lass, but I’m under your spell. I cannot go. Not without you.”
“That’s not possible,” she said, still reeling with pleasure as he lowered his body to hers. “I promised Lord Rutherford. Chatham is expecting me for dinner. There is a guard outside the door.”
Darach glanced back at it. “He won’t come in. I heard you tell him you were changing your gown.”
“You were listening?” she asked breathlessly as he returned his attention to her body and laid tantalizing kisses down the side of her neck.
“Aye—from under the bed.”
“But how did you know this was my chamber?” she asked, though it hardly mattered. Nothing mattered but the exquisite sensation of his lips and tongue roving across her flesh.
He was here. There was nothing else she needed to know.
“This room belonged to my brothers once,” he explained, lifting his head to look down at her. “The laird’s children have always lived in this tower. When I found the books on the bench under the window, I knew this was where you must lay your head at night.”
He kissed her again and she pulled him close, wrapped her legs around his hips, and fought hard against all the unwelcome thoughts of her future without him. All she wanted was to be held in Darach’s arms forever and pretend this was all there was, all there would ever be.
But it wasn’t all, and she knew she had to keep her head.
“Darach,” she whispered, pressing her palms against his broad chest and pushing him back slightly. “You know I can’t leave with you.”
&n
bsp; He gazed down at her, then bowed his head.
“If I did that,” she continued, “I don’t know what Chatham would do. Surely he wouldn’t see any point in letting my father live.”
Darach’s eyes lifted. “I could abduct you so it wouldn’t appear to be your fault. I could steal you away tonight. Maybe then they’d keep their promise.”
“They’d come after us. Besides, I can’t gamble on maybes—not when my father’s life is at stake.”
Darach rolled off her onto his back, tossed his arm up under his head and stared at the ceiling. “So, you plan to go through with it then. You’ll marry Chatham?”
“It’s what I agreed to,” she explained. “You knew that was my fate—and my choice—all along. It’s why you brought me here. I cannot break that oath.”
He rose to his feet, stalked across the room, and sat down in the chair before the dying fire. “I agreed to bring you here before I knew what sort of woman you were.”
“And what sort is that?” she asked, rising onto her elbows, hoping he would not accuse her of being shallow and loose with her affections.
“The kind of woman that a man like me cannot live without,” he replied. “I am in love with you, Larena Campbell. I must take you home with me.”
Her eyebrows lifted, for she was flattered that he wanted her so badly. She couldn’t deny the joy that engulfed her at the sound of those words on his lips. He was truly in love with her?
But was she in love with him? Or was this only lust? How could she be sure? She desired him. That was obvious. But what did she know of love?
“We barely know each other,” she argued. “How can you say something like that after only a week?”
“I’ve been asking myself that, lass,” he replied. “Maybe I’m mad.” He pushed himself out of the chair and paced around the room, raking his fingers through his hair. “I must be losing my mind. I shouldn’t have come.” He glanced toward the door and window as if he were desperate for some means of escape.
Larena swung her legs to the floor and hurried to his side. “No, I am glad that you did. If you hadn’t come, I would be searching for you now in the stables or hunting all around the castle until I found you. I had to see you one last time, and you must believe me when I say that I am in hell right now. I don’t want you to leave. If I could have what I want, I would tell the English army to leave here immediately and never come back. I would free my father from prison. Then I would do whatever I pleased.”
Return of the Highlander Page 13
